"Haha..." An overwhelming sense of satisfaction surged within Liu Zhenhan.
His laughter stopped abruptly, as a giant wolf with an azure-blue body stealthily emerged from behind the hill. Radiating an eerie glow like that of phosphorus, its eyes were fixed on the still laughing Liu Zhenhan across the bonfire.
Liu Zhenhan's pupils constricted instantly, sensing the chill coursing through his body. His body temperature dropped in a matter of seconds.
Without even a moment to wonder why the wolf was entirely azure-blue, Liu Zhenhan instinctively picked up the Whale Bone spear lying next to him, and threw it over. Other than unarmed combat, he had also participated in a flying dagger competition at a military event. Moreover, in his first battle, he had successfully killed an enemy at close range using a military dagger.
Liu Zhenhan felt a certain measure of confidence in his own skills. Despite his current lack of strength, the sharpness and quality of his Whale Bone spear offered the best proof.
However, something unbelievable happened next.
The azure-blue wolf opened its mouth, and from its fanged muzzle, expelled a gust of wind visible to the naked eye. Resembling a tornado, this high-speed, swirling wind formed a blade-like arc. It vanished in a flash, and with a "clang", Liu Zhenhan saw his sole weapon—the Whale Bone Spear—being distinctly stalled mid-air. Bone fragments floated slowly down. Flames flickered as the fragments fell into the bonfire with a series of crackling sounds.
The spear bounced off the ground and rolled in front of Liu Zhenhan, a deep gash stretched along its shaft. The blow looked like it was struck with a Buck Military Knife. Knowing the quality of this spear, Liu Zhenhan estimated that even if someone had used his preferred military trench knife on it, the damage would likely have been similar.
What was most terrifying, the damage to the spear was just a part of it.
The blade-like wind, with its momentum unabated, bent the flames in the bonfire down by half an inch. Liu Zhenhan turned around in disbelief when a gust of wind skimmed past his right cheek, only to see a bunch of reeds behind him uniformly sheared off. A few fluffy reed spikes were still floating mid-air.
"What is this?" Liu Zhenhan was dumbfounded, unable to comprehend what was going on.
The wolf snorted as if to express its disdain and seemed to ridicule Liu Zhenhan for his presumptuousness. Its eyes were reminiscent of the intense gaze of a hawk over a land. Liu Zhenhan felt that this wolf was not like the languid creatures he had seen in the zoo before. There was an intelligent gleam in its eyes, leaving Liu Zhenhan under an illusion that he was facing a person instead of a wolf.
The wolf's arrogant and untamed spirit made Liu Zhenhan's skin crawl.
Despite his shock, Liu Zhenhan instinctively pushed Guoguo, who was in his arms, behind him, picked up a piece of firewood from the bonfire, and stood up. He didn't know if the wolf would be afraid of fire this time. All common sense had become ambiguous to him. Since the wolf could emit a wind force that resembled a blade, it wouldn't be surprising if it were not afraid of fire.
Even though the wind blade was formidable, it was essentially the same as close combat. Traditionally, a bayonet used within 30 metres was fatal. Liu Zhenhan hunched down, holding the burning firewood towards the azure-blue wolf. He planned to break its nose when it lunged forward.
"Obischillaci! What the hell is going on?" A deep maroon dragon tattoo emerged on Liu Zhenhan's chest as he spoke. The dragon's head wrapping around his neck, its claws seemingly drawing blood as they burrowed out of his skin. This was Liu Zhenhan's tattoo representing the years he served in the famous battle unit known as the 'Red Scarlet Dragon'. This type of tattoo was an invisible variant made with a blend of cinnabar and pigeon blood, and would only appear when the owner's adrenaline surged.
Liu Zhenhan now realised that it is inevitably a desperate fight.
Eyes fixated on the giant wolf, he slowly moved his body. The area was too confined and the wolf's wind blade was overbearing. He didn't want Guoguo to get hurt accidentally when the fight started.
The wolf watched Liu Zhenhan move with amusement. It kept licking its nose with a blood-red tongue while the blue fur on its body stood up like steel needles. It appeared as curious as Liu Zhenhan and seemed ready to test its prey.
Liu Zhenhan felt a weight on his head, and looking up, he saw Guoguo had climbed on top of his head, its little paws clutching tightly to his hair.
"Guoguo, quickly get down!" Liu Zhenhan was frantically anxious.
At this pivotal moment of distraction, the giant wolf made its move. Ignoring the bonfire, it leapt forward and reached within five steps of Liu Zhenhan. He threw the fire torch straight towards the wolf's nose.
The wolf snorted disdainfully, another sharp burst of wind shot out of its mouth, intercepting the fire torch. With a loud "bang", sparks erupted from the point of impact, scattering in the remaining glow of the twilight like a burst of fireworks. The wolf, covered in sparks, was irate. Just as it prepared to tear the creature who had dared to oppose it into shreds, Liu Zhenhan emerged from the realm of scattered sparks, his gigantic fist aimed directly at the wolf's nose.